


Let Me Look At You

by Swlfangirl



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Snarky Derek, Stealth dating, clueless stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 07:43:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7426132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swlfangirl/pseuds/Swlfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt given to me by @MishaAteMyBlog ages ago which I think was mostly about Derek not letting Stiles sit beside him because he wanted to be able to see him better? but then I started writing and that's not what it's about at all, though Stiles does sit across from him! Whoot for me for fulfilling the very basic requirement of the prompt lol</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Look At You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MishaAteMyBlog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MishaAteMyBlog/gifts).



Stiles pulls at his hair in frustration. How long will he keep doing this. Every time before he and Derek are scheduled to go out, Stiles goes through this whole process that’s both unnerving and unnecessary. Even while they’re doing whatever it is they happened to have scheduled that day; coffee, dinner, movies, a memorable game of  _ couple’s _ paintball, it incredibly difficult for him to relax and just have fun anymore. It's gotten to the point of painfully awkward and he's about to give up completely. 

 

If not for the innocuous text on his phone and the small voice in the back of his head that screams what if? maybe? and other ridiculously hopeful words in what is clearly a hopeless situation; he really would give up, probably.

 

It’s just that...Derek has kinda morphed into his best friend and he can’t afford to lose another one. He loves Scotty, he does...but the guy just doesn’t have time for him anymore and Stiles understands. When you have a wife and two kids to look after it’s probably hard to find time to sleep, let alone play COD, wait in line for tickets to the midnight premier of the latest Marvel movie, or go to a slammin’ outdoor rock-fest featuring over a dozen of your favorite bands. That one, that one had hurt Scott quite a bit, but he makes sacrifices so the three ladies in his life stay happy and Stiles can totally support that. 

 

Which brings him back to Derek who surprisingly  _ makes _ time for Stiles. Derek who gives Stiles these small smiles that just make him feel gooey in the middle like a human version of the molten lava cake they  _ shared  _ during dessert last week. If Derek wasn’t so adorably clueless, Stiles would say something. He’s just a little terrified, okay? Give him a break. Derek Friggin Hale is ten kinds of supernatural hotness and even more kinds of  _ so-out-of-his league.  _ Stiles wants to enjoy the attention while he has it, but now it’s just gone too far. 

 

He’ll say something over lunch,  _ he has to. _

 

* * *

 

Stiles pulls into the restaurant and checks himself one more time in the rearview mirror. Taking a deep breath he hurries out of the jeep before he loses his nerve. As his feet move across the pavement and onto the sidewalk, Stiles gives himself a pep talk. He just can’t keep going like this, it’s not fair to him or to Derek. All he needs to do is get this out of the way and then they can go back to being friends. 

 

Well, not right away, obviously. He’ll need some time to get over his, admittedly life-long crush. Okay, maybe the time thing isn’t such a good idea. Stiles thinks if he gets time away from Derek, not only will it break him but he doesn’t think the feelings are going to go away anyway. So other options; maybe he could just learn to live with them. It wouldn’t be all that different from what he’s been doing lately, with the exception of Derek probably wanting to hang out less, and maybe putting even more distance between them. Stiles is  _ not _ liking the list of eventualities he’s running through. He scrubs his hands over his face a couple times before he hits the door and puts on a smile. 

 

Derek is waiting for him at their usual table and he’s sitting so far on the edge of his side of the booth that Stiles will have to make it incredibly awkward if he wanted to sit on the same side.  _ Oh well, _ he tells himself,  _ Might as well start the distancing now. _

 

“Stiles? What’s wrong?” Derek asks, his eyes giving away concern and worry as he peeks above the menu.

 

Stiles knows that Derek can probably smell the anxiety pouring off of him, if not taste it. He’s emoting hardcore right now and if he could take it all back he would, but there’s just too much going on in his mind to shut it all down. With a shaky breath, Stiles takes his seat and replies “Nothing, Derek. I just...I just think we need to talk.”

 

Stiles can’t bare to look at Derek, instead he focuses on his hands, fingers fidgeting in his lap. He takes one more deep breath and says what he knows he needs to. “We can’t do this anymore, not like this anyway. You’re my best friend and I don’t want to lose that, but...I- my feelings for you aren’t going away and I can’t pretend like they aren’t there anymore.”

 

“Sti-”

 

“Just listen. I am so gone on you, dude and I get that you just want to hang out with your buddy, Stiles.. But it hurts, being with you and not  _ being with you _ . I just...I want to but I can’t.”

 

It isn’t exactly how Stiles planned, but the words are out there, so his job is done. He wants to run for the exit but he owes Derek at least an opportunity to say whatever he thinks about Stiles’ laughable levels of crush on him. Stiles prepares himself for the rejection, hunching his shoulders a little before making the last step to look Derek in the eye. 

 

Derek is smiling. 

 

Derek Hale is smiling.

 

Derek Freakin’ Hale is  _ smiling _ and it’s directed at Stiles of all people!

 

It isn’t just one of those small tentative smiles that make Stiles feel mushy and gooey inside, no it’s big and wide and his dimples are showing, as are the crinkles at the edges of his eyes. Stiles is distracted for a moment because, _ dimples _ , but he eventually pulls himself back together to give Derek a serious look that hopefully reflects his confusion in a way that also says;  _ please never stop smiling, don’t make me go back to that smile-less world. _

 

He thinks it works because Derek’s mouth is open like he’s getting ready to explain but he’s still fucking smiling. “You’re an idiot, Stiles. We’ve been dating for weeks, maybe months.”

 

Stiles gapes, his eyes blinking rapidly but the picture isn’t changing. “Wait what? No we haven't?”

 

“Yes, we have. Ever since we moved from just coffee and hanging out at the loft, to dinner and movies. Stiles, we  _ shared  _ dessert and I have brunch,  _ brunch  _ every Sunday with you and your dad. Trust me, we’re dating.”

 

Stiles pauses, thinking over the last few weeks, then longer.. “What the hell, Derek! You can't just stealth date me and not tell me about it!”

 

Derek leans back in his seat with a smug smirk on his lips. “Apparently I can, because you are, and I quote, “ _ so gone on _ ” me.”

 

“God you're such an asshole, how many people think we're dating?” Stiles asks, because he knows it's stupid, okay he does...but he's curious to see just how many people figured it out before he did.

 

“Scott  _ knows  _ we’re dating _ , _ also, I introduced you as my boyfriend to Janice, my co worker.” Derek says, raising his eyebrows as if to punctuate the fact that  _ apparently  _ Stiles is even more clueless than Scott  *I stuck my fingers into a chinese finger trap, even though I’ve had to have them cut off multiple times* Mccall. 

 

_ Well, isn't that just great. _

 

Forcing himself to focus, he tries to remember Derek ever introducing him as a boyfriend, that’s not exactly something he should have missed but then he recalls the dark haired beauty that was constantly touching Derek’s arm and smiling at Derek and generally being all up on Derek.

 

“Oh, you mean the one that looks like Megan Fox? She was all over you, I was a little distracted…” Stiles remembers the occasion and though he’d openly admit to having glared daggers at the woman, he didn’t really hear a word Derek said. Stiles can only remember the sound of his heartbeat loud and wild while he stood there seething with jealously.

 

“Okay, so let’s say we  _ have _ been dating...Why haven’t you made a move, kissed me, something. It’s been weeks, maybe  _ months _ ,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest skeptically. Though Stiles falters as soon as he sees the almost bashful expression on Derek’s face. 

 

“I was taking it slow, and you've never been shy about saying what you want, so I thought maybe, you'd let me know when you were ready and we could go from there.”

 

“Well if you hadn't been stealth dating me, we could have had so many makeout sessions by now,” Stiles argues, already planning ways to make up for lost time in his head.

 

“Hey Stiles,” Derek says, his face feels far too innocent for his intentions to be anything less than pure evil.

 

“Yeah?” Stiles answers skeptically.

 

“I'm so gone on you too,” Derek admits, ducking his head down and coming back with that bright wide smile again.

 

Okay so maybe it wasn't  _ pure _ evil.


End file.
